Tales From The Desert
by Tantopat
Summary: 50 sentences following Roland, Mordecai, and the deathtrap that is Pandora.  Mordecai/Roland slash


#01 – Ring

Mordecai laughs and whoops loudly as Roland steers the Runner in tight circles, leaving large rings in the dust.

#02 - Hero

No matter how many times Roland insists it, Mordecai refuses to believe that saving that family from skags makes him a hero; he's spilled far too much blood in his time to start thinking of high morals now.

#03 - Memory

Camping out under the stars for the night, Roland closes his eyes and lets his thoughts drift back to that moment when he first stepped onto the dusty surface of Pandora and found himself face-to-face with the strange masked man who would become his best friend and more.

#04 - Box

As much as Mordecai wants to be a good team player this once, he keeps his mouth shut over the large crate that he stumbles across, buried under a half-collapsed shed; whatever's inside, he's not sharing it.

#05 - Run

As the pair sprint to the relative safety of the Runner, he looks over and sees a manic gleam in the sniper's eyes through his broken goggles that enthralls, terrifies and hypnotises him all at once.

#06 – Hurricane

They spend the night huddled together in an empty skag den, watching the vicious winds tear up sand from the ground outside.

#07 – Wings

Roland watches with quiet fascination as Mordecai fondly scratches Bloodwing on his beak and strokes his wings – if he ever tried that, he'd probably get his fingers ripped off for the trouble.

#08 – Cold

He's losing blood rapidly, and for once Mordecai is at a complete loss as he helplessly watches his friend shiver in the back of the stolen Lancer.

#09 – Red

Mordecai heaves a heavy sigh as he numbly commands his legs to take him away from Doctor Zed's place, his clothes and the sand below him still stained with Roland's blood.

#10 – Drink

Roland arches an eyebrow, silently marvelling at how Mordecai's skinny arms can carry so many bottles of unlabelled booze back from the bandit den they've just raided.

#11 – Midnight

It's completely dark this far out in the desert, the only light coming from the moon and stars and the only warmth from the ex-soldier's arms around him and the dying engine behind them.

#12 – Temptation

His willpower lasts all of ten seconds before he gives in and crushes his lips against Roland's, tackling him to the ground.

#13 – View

Pandora is deadly, filled with endless deserts, scorching heat, psychotic bandits and near-rabid animals; yet, as Roland and Mordecai sit on a cliff's edge and stare out at the horizon, neither one can do anything but see beauty in it all.

#14 – Music

Roland awakes to the sound of music blaring down his ear and Mordecai singing along to it in notes that he's not entirely sure existed before today.

#15 – Silk

It takes a moment for Roland to make sense of the sight before his eyes, but Mordecai's terrified expression, the way he quickly hides the silk nightgown behind his back and Lilith's enraged shriek from the other room provide all the information he needs.

#16 – Cover

It's not that he'd be worried either way, but knowing that Mordecai is watching over him, ready to provide cover fire if necessary, is admittedly a great comfort.

#17 – Promise

"I promise," he murmurs, taking Roland's hand with a lopsided smile and letting his fingers brush over the rough skin, "I won't loot all the goods before you get there this time."

#18 – Dream

On quiet nights Roland lets himself fall into a sleep deep enough to dream about what life would be like if it was just him, Mordecai, and a world free from the threat of death at every turn.

#19 – Candle

Once again Mordecai finds himself torn between longing to light that last candle and see exactly where he is, and knowing that doing so would alert every bandit within a 10-mile radius to their position.

#20 – Talent

"I... didn't know you could do that..." Roland pants, before losing the capacity to even form words as Mordecai's hands and mouth drag him deep into pure bliss once more.

#21 – Silence

In the end, no words are needed; Roland looks at Mordecai, at the way he smiles at him and looks over in that warm, trusting, blink-and-you'll-miss-it vulnerable way and just _knows_.

#22 – Journey

The sun is harsh and scorching, the road is dry and dusty and the route is a deathtrap – and with Roland by his side, Mordecai is loving every minute of it.

#23 – Fire

Roland is pinned to his spot by gunfire, watching helplessly as bullets rain down past him – then three distinct cracks of a sniper rifle pierce the wall of noise, and everything falls silent.

#24 – Strength

Roland quickly thanks whoever's listening for making him strong enough to lift Mordecai as he grabs the sniper and practically flings him out of the rocket's path.

#25 – Mask

The mask slips away slowly under Roland's hands and drops to the floor, and past the heavy scarring and the grime all he sees is the man he's wanted for so long, just as perfect as he'd imagined.

# 26 – Ice

Even in the intense desert heat, Mordecai's fingers still somehow manage to be ice-cold as he slides them across Roland's chest.

#27 – Fall

Roland barely has time to turn around and register the sickening _crack_ beneath Mordecai's feet before the ledge crumbles and his friend disappears from sight.

#28 – Forgotten

The two men settle in each others' arms for the night, the now-cremated campfire food forgotten in favour of sleep.

#29 – Dance

Mordecai suppresses a glower as he watches Lilith teach Roland how to tango, telling himself repeatedly that he's definitely not jealous at all, not in the slightest.

#30 – Body

He prides himself in knowing every inch, scar, curve and crease of Roland's body, and moreso in knowing exactly where the spots are that send him into unabashed screaming ecstasy.

#31 – Sacred

The one time that Roland knows he definitely can't have Mordecai all to himself is in the moment right before sunrise – that moment is for Mordecai and Bloodwing to bond alone, and intruding on this almost sacred ritual seems intrinsically wrong somehow.

#32 – Farewells

They finally land back on Earth, and one last kiss leads to another, neither one willing to truly say goodbye and turn away.

#33 – World

This new world is both desolate and breathtaking – and, decides Mordecai, the man dressed in a soldier's uniform sitting across from him is pretty breathtaking too.

#34 – Formal

After finding the still-intact bottle of wine in an empty building, Roland attempts to present it to Mordecai in a posh waiter style; he begins regretting his "brilliant idea" when Mordecai spends the rest of the night insisting on clapping at him and calling him "Garçonÿ h.

#35 – Fever

Mordecai spends the after sneezing his throat out and futilely pressing the cold compress to his forehead, wishing that Roland would come back from his mission so that he could at least have something to eat without getting up; he's getting a little sick of the way the room spins every time he does (he refuses to admit that he also just wants someone to hug).

#36 – Laugh

Roland feels a little bad for laughing after the last skag falls to the ground, riddled with bullets, but his partner's laugh is just too infectious and he joins in without even realising.

#37 – Lies

It takes Roland more effort than he'd like to believe Mordecai when he says that he hasn't ever slept with Lilith and doesn't plan on doing so.

#38 – Forever

Mordecai realises on one particularly sweltering morning that he's become far too accustomed to this planet and the myriad thrills it offers; given half the chance, he might even decide to stay here for good.

#39 – Overwhelmed

There are too many of them, closing in on him from all corners and sending barrage after barrage of bullets his way – then a shout breaks through the madness, and Mordecai has never been more relieved to see Roland in his entire life.

#40 – Whisper

"In case we don't make it out of here, I -" Mordecai pauses before continuing in a low whisper, "I want you to know: I wouldn't want to be chopped up into bloody chunks by angry Psychos with anyone else by my side but you."

#41 – Wait

Waiting for a target is by far the most boring part of the day for Mordecai, until he figures out that he can pass the time annoying Roland by taking pot-shots at whatever he happens to be holding at the time.

#42 – Talk

The deserts of Pandora are far too lonely to warrant giving Mordecai the silent treatment after they've had a row; Roland's alternative strategy is to simply talk incessantly at his friend until he apologises just to shut Roland up.

#43 – Search

A single shared smirk and then they're off, each racing in opposite directions to find the bandits' weapon stash before the other.

#44 – Hope

Mordecai's arms are growing numb as he clings desperately onto the outcrop, and he can feel the rocks beneath them get closer to crumbling - then Bloodwing's distinctive screech breaks through his thoughts along with Roland calling out from somewhere above him, and Mordecai suddenly feels stupid for ever thinking of giving up hope.

#45 – Eclipse

He has to admit that this seems strangely romantic; the pitch-black sky lit up with stars as the moon draws closer to eclipsing, the cooling night air shared with Roland, and the peaceful landscape around them lit only by flashes of gunfire as the two men fight back waves of wildly screaming midgets.

#46 – Gravity

It still amuses Roland to watch Mordecai withstand the higher gravity of Pandora with relative ease, while men both taller and roughly twice as wide as the sniper stumble and moan about the pressure as soon as they set foot on the planet.

#47 – Highway

They're hurtling down the dirt road in the Runner, belting out "Highway to Hell" without caring which notes they hit, and taking turns in necking bottles of unidentifiable liquids; Mordecai looks down from his spot at the man who he has shared so many of these adventures and near-death experiences with, and decides that life has never been better.

#48 – Unknown

The cave is dark and filled with strangely unearthly howls, and as Roland peers eagerly into the opening he realises for the first time that Mordecai's recklessness has been even more of an influence on him than he'd thought.

#49 – Lock

With Lilith and Brick now joining the two men, Mordecai feels forced to lock his weapons crate when he isn't around – something which he resents, after becoming so used to the implicit trust shared between him and Roland.

#50 - Breathe

Roland stays awake during that last night on Pandora, simply watching Mordecai sleep beside him and feeling so relieved for every breath that he takes - he knows that even if they have to go their separate ways when they return to Earth, his lover has survived this deathtrap despite all the injuries and life-threatening situations that the two of them found themselves in, and because of that they may even live to see each other again someday.


End file.
